


What's Rule One?

by m7storyteller



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Crossover, Episode Tag, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-12
Updated: 2013-06-12
Packaged: 2017-12-14 17:59:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/839744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m7storyteller/pseuds/m7storyteller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place during The Walking Dead 1.04 Vatos, in which Carl asks Buffy and Dawn what rule one is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What's Rule One?

"What's rule one?", Carl asked, as they all settled in to eat the fish that Andrea and Amy had caught earlier and Morales had cooked.  Dawn looked up from her plate, her eyes wide, as she glanced at Buffy, who had stopped eating.  
  
"What?", Lori looked at her son, "Where did you hear that?"  
  
He opened his mouth to speak, only for her to shake her head, "Don't talk with your mouth full."  
  
Carl made a point of chewing before swallowing, before answering her, "Buffy and Dawn, they always say it when one of them goes somewhere or isn't going to be nearby for a while.  They always call out 'Rule one!'."  
  
"I heard you both say it too.", Carol said, from where she was picking bones out of Sophia's fish, "Never thought about what it meant."  
  
Buffy, who was sitting between Sophia and Shane looked at Dawn, who shook her head,  "It's your rule, you tell them."  
  
"It's just a rule I made when everything happened, and it just stuck.", Buffy said, tearing off a piece of fish and eating it.  She chewed for a few seconds, before continuing on, "Because you never know what's going to happen."  
  
Not to mention that she was fifteen when she made up the rule because hello, vampire slayer, chances of dying, extremely high.  It felt like yesterday the first time she explained the rule to Willow, Xander, and Dawn.  
  
"Makes sense.", Dale said, next to Amy, "Care to share it?"  
  
She squirmed, "It's not really something we should be talking about while we're eating."  
  
"Especially after Andrea and Amy went through all the trouble to catch such nice fish.", Dawn said, from where she was sitting near them, popping a piece into her mouth.  She gave Morales a thumbs up, "So good."  
  
He smiled, passing the pan to Jim.  
  
"It can't hurt.", Shane said, feeling curious about what rule one could be.  
  
"Okay.", Buffy nodded her head, stalling by taking a few more bites of her fish.  When she was done, she rubbed her hands together over her plate to clean them, before turning to the question at hand.  
  
"Well, rule one is fairly simple to remember, because it's only two words.  Probably the most important words that you'll ever think about, even now.", she started, looking at Dawn.  
  
Dawn nodded her head, "Yet they're effective."  
  
"Very.", Buffy agreed, "Very effective."  
  
"What are they?", Carl asked, almost bouncing in his seat with anticipation.  He and Sophia had spent hours trying to figure out what it could be.  
  
Buffy and Dawn looked at each other, and Buffy nodded her head, before saying the two little words that meant quite a lot to them, "Don't die."  
  
"It makes since, given the situation.", Dale says after a moment, while everyone else nods their heads in agreement as they thought about it. 

No one in the group knew that they would understand the meaning more after that night, or in the weeks and months to come.


End file.
